I’ve been rereading a few of my favorite urban fantasy series to try to understand how other authors construct the middles of their stories. This month I read Moon Called by Patricia Briggs and Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison.

Moon Called is the first in Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series. In it Mercy a mechanic takes in a young scared werewolf who doesn’t seem to really understand what he is. Mercy is a coyote shapeshifter. She was raised by werewolves herself and when things take a dangerous turn she finds herself going back to where she was raised. I’m planning to continue rereading this series. Such a fun one.

Fistful of Charms is book four in Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series. Rachel is a private detective who left the supernatural force to form a team with two other Inderlanders. In this book Rachel tries to deal with her estrangement with one of her partners and finding a blood balance with the other. She also tries to find and rescue and ex-boyfriend. Thanks to Harrison’s clear writing even though I started rereading this series four books in I never felt lost.

I’m not sure how realistic it is but the female MC of Anything but a Duke is an inventor. It’s delightful to read about a woman in STEM from any time period. The plot device that is used to keep her and the male MC in close contact is delightfully used. And I’m looking forward to seeing all the other potential couples stories.

I reread The Curse of Chalion for SFF book club. The theme was realistic horses. 😀 At any rate, it is a book and series well worth a few rereads. I really love the five gods world. And this, of course, led me to reread the next book in the series. Paladin of Souls picks up with one of the characters from the previous book going on a pilgrimage.